Two weeks before the nine-in-one election voting, Taipei City will hold a televised political statement for the Taipei mayor election today (14th). Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan, who is seeking re-election, mentioned a number of political views with the theme of "reducing the burden of citizens' lives". He did not mention the "Huida, fresh milk, and the Big Dome" that he usually talks about. In three aspects, including urban renewal plans, education, and flexible commuting for public servants, he responded to Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang of the Democratic Progressive Party, and responded to Shen's criticism that "the city's urban policy is wide at the entrance and narrow at the exit." He pointed out that in the future, the Taipei City Government will not only make the entrance wider, but the exit will also be wider. Finally, he shouted to the citizens that Taipei is definitely not a place for hatred, Taipei is not a stage to create confrontation and tear each other apart, and Taipei is definitely not a political laboratory for the dreams and slogans of a few people.
In this political speech, Jiang Wanan talked about traffic and pedestrian safety, housing and social housing, urban renewal and longevity of old houses, maternal and child care, childcare and friendly workplaces, AI technology education and campus construction, workplace support for public education personnel, youth entrepreneurship and career exploration, labor rights and family care, long-term care for the elderly and elderly welfare, ethnic cultural inheritance and animal friendliness, etc.
In terms of transportation policy, Jiang Wanan proposed to use the existing 1,200 metropolitan buses to allow commuters to switch to different means of transportation across districts. However, they also noticed that for short-distance people who rely on Shuang-North buses for commuting and school, this policy may not necessarily best meet their needs. Therefore, the city government decided to launch the "Shuang-North Bus 399 fixed-term ticket" in the hope of providing bus users with a choice that better meets their daily needs. It is estimated that 300,000 people will benefit from this policy.
Chiang Wanan pointed out that on pedestrian walkways, "as long as it is the path that children take to go to school every day, it is the road that Taipei City needs to improve the most." Therefore, it has promoted the plan of school walkways and comprehensively inspected the school environment of 280 campuses. Currently, 95% of the campuses have completed improvements. Such improvements did not only occur around the school. After he took office, he comprehensively promoted the traffic safety plan. From removing motorcycles from sidewalks to adding pedestrian shelter islands, a total of 35 measures were promoted. People's satisfaction exceeded 75%, and the overall road renewal area increased by an average of 2.2 times every year.
In addition, after the Gongguan Circle, which has long topped the list of traffic accidents, overcame the relocation of underground pipelines, filled in underground bus lanes, and created an orthogonal intersection with clear traffic lines, related traffic accidents also dropped by 52%, greatly improving the safety of driving and pedestrians.
Jiang Wanan said that in the next four years, in response to the development of an aging society, the focus will shift to areas around MRT stations. For the roads within 50 meters of the MRT station entrance and exit, the road type will be improved, and speed management will be achieved through physical deceleration facilities, strengthened signs, and lowered speed limits. At the same time, the interrupted sidewalks will be completely opened, the arcades with height differences will be leveled, and the barrier-free connection at the intersection will be optimized. From exiting the station to transferring, from walking to returning home, we improve the continuity of walking routes and traffic quality, so that every citizen can walk with peace of mind.
Jiang Wanan said that Happy House allows families who have been married within two years or have children aged 0 to 6 to apply. The first wave of 156 households released attracted 1,966 applications, showing that young families have a very strong demand for stable living space in Taipei. Since its launch, the occupancy rate has been as high as 90%. By the end of this year, 9 more properties will be added for a total of 261 households, and in the next four years, 8 more properties will be added for a total of 888 households.
Jiang Wanan said that in addition to increasing the supply of housing, it will also give families who really need it the opportunity to move in first, and include an exclusive quota of 20% for married families in social housing. It is estimated that it will provide 10,000 households with housing resources in the future, giving newlyweds more opportunities to live a stable life in Taipei. Similarly, young people who have just entered society and started working also need an affordable and safe place to settle down. In the future, happy residences will also include single young people, including Taipei citizens and young people from the north who come to Taipei to study and work, giving more young people the opportunity to take root in Taipei and bravely pursue their dreams.
Jiang Wanan said that the city government has also noticed that the stability of residence is actually related to the stability of children's schooling. Therefore, it has relaxed the lease renewal regulations and school district certification for families with children. They can live in the home until their children graduate from elementary school, and the lease period can be extended to 12 years, so that children's schooling will be more stable and the children's growth will not be disrupted by relocation. In terms of rent, a discount of 60% to 30% off the market price is provided, and residents can still apply for rent subsidies at the same time, minimizing the monthly burden.
Jiang Wanan pointed out that in the next stage, we will also promote the reduction and exemption of house tax and land price tax on marriage and childbirth residences, and make full efforts to reduce them to 0 yuan. After the successful promotion of Happy House, we found that this is all based on social housing. He is very grateful to former mayor Ke Wenzhe for his earnest promotion of social housing, active land inventory and local communication.
So far, the Beijing Municipal Government has started planning 10 social housing sites with 3,031 units, started construction on 8 sites with 2,504 units, completed 23 sites with 7,645 units, and 15 sites with 5,041 units are open for occupancy. With limited land resources, we are also actively taking inventory of 33 potential social housing bases with a total of 7,041 households, and continue to expand the supply of social housing in the future.
In contrast, the central government's new draft social housing construction plan directly cuts the new construction target from 130,000 households to 30,000 households, and also plans to stop non-self-pay subsidies to local governments from 2028. This is a heavy burden for local governments and is also an important key to whether social housing can continue to be stable.
Jiang Wanan said that when it comes to housing policy, another focus is urban renewal. After he took office, the threshold for the first stage of public urban renewal has been lowered from 90% to 75%, and will be lowered to 50% in the future. As long as more than half of the residents are willing to renew, the government will be able to assist the community in the evaluation of the renewal plan, the trial calculation of rights and household communication, and help the people take the first step of urban renewal.
On the other hand, we will promote the renewal of street outlines and increase the standard volume from 225% to 300% for large areas of more than 3,000 square meters, close to MRT stations and areas near the waterfront. This will significantly increase the incentives and allow residents to get more. In addition, facilities such as child care, elderly care, and happy residences can be introduced to make more residents and developers willing to renovate their houses as soon as possible.
Jiang Wanan said that he also saw Commissioner Shen Boyang say that the city government's policy "is to make entrances wider and exits narrower," confirming their policy direction. However, the North City Government not only makes entrances wider, but also exits wider.
Jiang Wanan pointed out that in order to speed up the review, promote Project 150 and Improve Project 168, for cases with no controversy and a high degree of consensus, dedicated personnel will be used for deliberation, effectively shortening the review period of the case. Last year, it took the lead in introducing an optical identification system to reduce manual inspection time. Next year, it will add 105 more manpower to expand the capacity of Dugeng review and integration to accelerate the advancement of cases.
Regarding the extension of the life of old houses and the installation of elevators, Jiang Wanan said that four major improvements in renovation and maintenance measures will be expanded to comprehensively eliminate obstacles to integration, including increasing subsidies to 80%, up to 4.8 million yuan, and exterior wall renovations of up to 20 million yuan, the highest amount in the country.
In addition, if parking spaces are reduced due to the addition of elevators, there is no need to pay a voucher, and there is no need to change the use license for exterior wall repairs. Finally, there is a project to force the demolition of illegal structures that hinder the construction of elevators or exterior walls. The number of applications for installing elevators every year is 3.7 times the average of the past eight years, and the growth rate is also the highest in the country.
In terms of education and faculty support, Jiang Wanan said that in the face of Commissioner Shen’s demands for educational support and improvement of the faculty environment, “We are already doing all the things you asked for, Commissioner Shen.”
Jiang Wanan pointed out that Taipei City’s education budget this year has reached a record high, and it has drafted an “AI Education White Paper” for the next four years, investing 9.2 billion yuan to promote cool AI platforms, smart big screens, Wi-Fi 7, and drone and robot education centers. For front-line teachers, the city government has launched the "Three Arrows to Reduce Teacher Stress", starting with administrative reduction, psychological support and campus safety. It has increased the teacher allowance from 600 yuan to 2,000 yuan and expanded the payment to 37,000 educators. At the same time, it has promoted tutors to reduce teaching by one class per week, added 300 full-time administrative manpower, and expanded free psychological consultation and campus legal advisory systems to reduce the burden on teachers.
In addition, in terms of hardware and teaching quality, Jiang Wanan said that the city government invests at least 4 billion yuan every year to speed up the renovation of old school buildings and gradually reduce the teacher-student ratio in elementary and junior high schools to 25 and 26 students respectively. At the same time, he also responded to the previous candidate Dr. Xiao Wenqian’s concern about English education, emphasizing that the Beijing Municipal English Teaching Outline has incorporated the basis of natural pronunciation (PA) and science of reading (SOR), and continues to support the teacher community and diversified teaching.
